Sabrina sent out an email early last week before we had this website figured out and off the Chinese language default so I'm attaching that email below. It documents just about everything that has happened through week #1. Many of you may have already read it. I added it as it kind of chronicles our first week.In addition, I'll try to characterize what life is like without 80% of your belongings such as high chairs, cribs, cooking utinsils, & other necessities. (our shipment is scheduled to arrive the first week in March) Actually it is not that bad, it is like being at the cabin or something on that order. Plus the weather has been in the high 50's to low 60's and very, very sunny & mild. Much more beautiful than 10 below and a foot and a half of snow. It is stroller weather here. Flowers are out and we are tackling this together. It is a challenge at times no doubt but it is much more rewarding then one can imagine.
Though we are doing very well, we still have our times of stress and anxiety. Sabrina has her Pilates & I am starting to hit the gym 3 to 4 nights a week. Sabrina and I also spend a lot of time on the computer answering emails, talking to love ones via webcam on Windows Messenger, catching up with what is going on back in the US, and we also are starting to get to know people in our neighborhood and other Americans living in the general vicinity.
Much of the week has been spent trying to get settled. Our air shipment(small) was delivered yesterday. We were grateful to get the kids toys finally! Unfortunately our large sea shipment with all of our other essentials has been delayed. It was supposed to arrive 2/12, but now is expected the first week in March. So... no cribs, kitchen items, formula, baby food, more clothes etc until then. We went to IKEA the other day to get towels, kitchen supplies, and other household essentials to help us make do until the shipment arrives. IKEA in Shanghai is amazingly like the one in Bloomington, except every sign/label is in Chinese.
Shopping has also become challenging in another way. Our twins have something akin to celebrity status. You don't see too many children, especially babies, in Shanghai. Plus, "the
Dragon and the Phoenix", or what boy girl twins are called, have a very special status in China. They are seen as very good luck and the parents are "strong". We literally stop people in their tracks wherever we go. People talk to them and to us in words that we don't understand, peer into the stroller, touch them, point at them and on and on. They almost fall over each other to take a look. At first it was kind of scary, then flattering, and now it is almost annoying. It is difficult to get anything done in any short amount of time and we are not fond of people touching our children. Think of this all going on while you are at a Walmart on the Friday after Thanksgiving and then multiply it by 5. No kidding, it is that crowded in the grocery store. Some lady crawled over me and the stroller to get in front of it to take a look at the babies today while we were on the conveyor like belt up to the second floor of the store. CRAZY! We try to keep in mind that they all mean very well and just do not get to see something like Caden and Ava everyday.
This past week was the Chinese New Year 
celebration so basically the whole country is shut down except for the service sector such as retail & so on. I must say the 4th of July doesn't hold a candle to the fireworks displays here over the past week. It's a good thing they are all made here because a fortune, by US standards, in fireworks has been ignited each night for about a week now. Anyway because of this holiday, I worked from home this week. This was nice because it allowed us a slower transition. I basically worked very early in the morning for a couple of hours and worked 2 or 3 hours after breakfast and another 2 or 3 after lunch or after the twins are down for the evening.
In our other time, the weather has made it convenient so we have spent a lot of time walking around the neighborhood with the stroller exploring. We ate at Papa Johns for dinner tonight. Yes, Papa Johns. We've checked out the major supermarkets in the area and I think we both agree the supermarket will be a thing we do
without the kids because as Sabrina mentioned in her email the twins just attract so much attention that it is next to impossible to get anything completed or shopped for in an efficient manner before the kids are hungry again or Caden is spooked out of his skin from Chinese people talking Chinese about two inches from his nose. I took the camera the other day to take a picture of this. The picture is attached. This picture was taken very early in our visit to this store. It progressed to be much worse. (STMA - you should be proud with the sweatshirt :) But like my dad says, "it could be worse...at least they like you"... this is so true. We are lucky in this regard... but we just feel a bit like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jollee.
celebration so basically the whole country is shut down except for the service sector such as retail & so on. I must say the 4th of July doesn't hold a candle to the fireworks displays here over the past week. It's a good thing they are all made here because a fortune, by US standards, in fireworks has been ignited each night for about a week now. Anyway because of this holiday, I worked from home this week. This was nice because it allowed us a slower transition. I basically worked very early in the morning for a couple of hours and worked 2 or 3 hours after breakfast and another 2 or 3 after lunch or after the twins are down for the evening.In our other time, the weather has made it convenient so we have spent a lot of time walking around the neighborhood with the stroller exploring. We ate at Papa Johns for dinner tonight. Yes, Papa Johns. We've checked out the major supermarkets in the area and I think we both agree the supermarket will be a thing we do
without the kids because as Sabrina mentioned in her email the twins just attract so much attention that it is next to impossible to get anything completed or shopped for in an efficient manner before the kids are hungry again or Caden is spooked out of his skin from Chinese people talking Chinese about two inches from his nose. I took the camera the other day to take a picture of this. The picture is attached. This picture was taken very early in our visit to this store. It progressed to be much worse. (STMA - you should be proud with the sweatshirt :) But like my dad says, "it could be worse...at least they like you"... this is so true. We are lucky in this regard... but we just feel a bit like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jollee.Just as we did in Minnesota and I am sure we do what anyone does with 10 month old twins... we spend a lot of time indoors in our new home. Time is passed playing in one part of the house until that becomes boring, so we move to another part of the house, break out the guitar, take a nap, and start all over again, between a meal, snack, or bottle here and there. It all culmunates 
over a 
hot bath and a bottle before bed time at 7:30 or so. The kids are sleeping through the night now quite nicely - with a few wake up glitches every now then when Caden wets himself a bit much or Ava rolls over and bonks her head on the wall. We have taken a mattress and put on the floor as a make shift crib. Ava is starting to think it is pretty cool to crawl off the mattress and rug burn her forehead. But all in all we are very lucky that they have adjusted so well.
over a 
hot bath and a bottle before bed time at 7:30 or so. The kids are sleeping through the night now quite nicely - with a few wake up glitches every now then when Caden wets himself a bit much or Ava rolls over and bonks her head on the wall. We have taken a mattress and put on the floor as a make shift crib. Ava is starting to think it is pretty cool to crawl off the mattress and rug burn her forehead. But all in all we are very lucky that they have adjusted so well. Though we are doing very well, we still have our times of stress and anxiety. Sabrina has her Pilates & I am starting to hit the gym 3 to 4 nights a week. Sabrina and I also spend a lot of time on the computer answering emails, talking to love ones via webcam on Windows Messenger, catching up with what is going on back in the US, and we also are starting to get to know people in our neighborhood and other Americans living in the general vicinity.
Until next time...
{here is Sabrina's earlier email}
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Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2007 06:59:54 -0600
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Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2007 06:59:54 -0600
Hello everyone!
We arrived a little weathered yet in one piece on your Tuesday morning, our Tuesda
y evening. We expected our little firecracker Ava to have the rougher time on the plane, but Caden just couldn't get comfortable. In an effort to not be thrown out of the cabin by the other passengers, we spent much of the time walking around with him. Come to find out, he was suffering from one ear infection and the other one was on it's way. We learned this after our first trip to the Shanghai East International Clinic yesterday. In a way, it was good to use the clinic this early on so we kind of know how healthcare works here.
y evening. We expected our little firecracker Ava to have the rougher time on the plane, but Caden just couldn't get comfortable. In an effort to not be thrown out of the cabin by the other passengers, we spent much of the time walking around with him. Come to find out, he was suffering from one ear infection and the other one was on it's way. We learned this after our first trip to the Shanghai East International Clinic yesterday. In a way, it was good to use the clinic this early on so we kind of know how healthcare works here. Much of the week has been spent trying to get settled. Our air shipment(small) was delivered yesterday. We were grateful to get the kids toys finally! Unfortunately our large sea shipment with all of our other essentials has been delayed. It was supposed to arrive 2/12, but now is expected the first week in March. So... no cribs, kitchen items, formula, baby food, more clothes etc until then. We went to IKEA the other day to get towels, kitchen supplies, and other household essentials to help us make do until the shipment arrives. IKEA in Shanghai is amazingly like the one in Bloomington, except every sign/label is in Chinese.
We've been to the Carrefour (SuperWalmart like store) a couple of times now for groceries and to start buying some appliances. Our 10 cup coffeemaker cost close to $100 - the same model that you can buy at TARGET back home for about $30! Strange how some things are much more expensive and others are extremely cheap - like fruits, veggies, some clothing. There are two grocery stores that deliver to homes in our housing compound and you can get quite a lot of American products. However, you will pay a little over $2 for a box of Kraft Mac-n-Cheese. We are experimenting with food very little at this point because we have nothing to cook things in, but we've tried different types of Chinese cereal, noodles (like Ramen), yogurt, breads, produce etc. It's hard to shop when you can't read the labels, nutritional content or even the directions on how to cook things!
Shopping has also become challenging in another way. Our twins have something akin to celebrity status. You don't see too many children, especially babies, in Shanghai. Plus, "the
Dragon and the Phoenix", or what boy girl twins are called, have a very special status in China. They are seen as very good luck and the parents are "strong". We literally stop people in their tracks wherever we go. People talk to them and to us in words that we don't understand, peer into the stroller, touch them, point at them and on and on. They almost fall over each other to take a look. At first it was kind of scary, then flattering, and now it is almost annoying. It is difficult to get anything done in any short amount of time and we are not fond of people touching our children. Think of this all going on while you are at a Walmart on the Friday after Thanksgiving and then multiply it by 5. No kidding, it is that crowded in the grocery store. Some lady crawled over me and the stroller to get in front of it to take a look at the babies today while we were on the conveyor like belt up to the second floor of the store. CRAZY! We try to keep in mind that they all mean very well and just do not get to see something like Caden and Ava everyday.Other than that we are trying out drivers and Ayis (housekeeper/nanny) to find ones that "fit" our family. I'm looking forward to the help as Tony goes back to work next week after the Chinese New Year holiday. Which, by the way, has turned Shanghai into a nightly war zone with a plethora of fireworks that we can see from every window in our home. They are being shot off between high rise apartment buildings right next to us as we write this. We are also trying to work out the glitches in our home - power failures, lost internet (that's why you haven't heard from us), an overactive security alarm system, and a leaky water cooler and dishwasher. Whenever we call for service about 2-4 people show up. One with choppy English and the rest who don't speak a word. So far, only two items have been fixed and the others only partially fixed and we get ridiculous explanations for why things don't work or can't work. I'm not sure any of the 4 men that showed up to show us how to use the home security system, mainly to make it stop beeping, knew how it actually works. And, its still beeping. Ahh.... the adventure continues.
I'll close by letting you all know that we are doing well but we miss you so much. There are hard points every now and then, but we are working out the kinks. Caden and Ava are adjusting very well and are almost back to sleeping through the night on their mattress on the floor that will have to do until their cribs arrive. Tony and I still want to go to bed around 8 and we wake up around 4-5 in the morning, but we are slowly adjusting. We are 14 hours ahead of you so it takes a few days to adjust, but it is not as bad as one might think.
Keep your emails coming, Sabrina and Tony
